put all one's eggs in one basket



put all one's eggs in one basket

Risk all of one's resources in a single venture, as in He had warned Peter about investing heavily in a single stock; it was putting all his eggs in one basket . This proverb, first recorded in 1710, has largely replaced the much older trust all one's goods to one ship. Mark Twain played on it in Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894): "The fool saith, 'Put not all thy eggs in one basket' ... but the wise man saith, 'Put all your eggs in one basket, and watch that basket!'"
See also: all, basket, egg, one, put

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
Macbeth-History
Nathaliena-ta-LEE (French), NAH-tah-lee (German)French, German
Girolamo-Italian
Godivagə-DIE-və (English)Anglo-Saxon (Latinized)
Baltasar (2)-Biblical Greek
HendrikHEN-drik (Dutch, German)Dutch, German, Estonian